I Believe

I believe in sticking up for something that you are passionate about, but also holding a high set of morals. Many times when we feel strongly about something we take it too far and go into dangerous territory. We need to realize that sticking up for something is good, but when we take it too far it can be very hurtful.

We encounter these sorts of situations all the time in our lives. I have experienced this most often at school. The issue that comes up the most, and is the absolute worst is talking about politics! Many people at our school are very passionate about them and will stop at nothing to prove that their beliefs are correct. Unfortunately people usually take it too far and end up hurting each other. This is so terrible because it causes tension between sets of friends. My point is, that standing behind your beliefs is good, but don’t let it take away from your values.

Now I would like to share an experience where I was very passionate about a sporting event, but my morals were put into jeopardy. I was playing in a soccer game right? Of course you are completely in the moment while on the field. I was playing hard, as was my team. This is co-ed soccer so yeah… not quite the intensity of a high school level game, but everyone was still taking it seriously. Well, there happened to be a call that I did not agree with. I called the referee on this and he did not seem to agree. So I eventually called him out and said, “Why don’t you make a good call you @#%hole?” Well this resulted in me getting a red card and being suspended for two games out of the season. I mean we only played like seven so it was pretty harsh! Here was this 45 year old man refereeing co-ed soccer. Let the kids play! Being the bigger man of 15 years old I just walked away. I really felt that I was just sticking up for my teammates. I should have received a warning or something, but not this harsh of a punishment. This was a situation where my integrity was in question. It is a moral that I hold very high so I was in quite the dilemma.

To this day I am still angry every time I think about what happened on this day. I still know what was right. I would say it was morally wrong to call him the word I did, but I felt that I was just sticking up for my team and fighting for what was right. Speaking of morals, after that day I knew I had made a mistake. I am still bitter about how that ref called that game, but it does not excuse my actions of calling him the bad word. 99.9% of the time I feel as though a have high morals and take the high road, but this was a situation where I definitely crossed the line, but with good reason. My morals are very important to me and that is part of the reason why I still remember the game. Not just because I was infuriated with the ref, but after thinking about it a little more I was partially to blame too. In the end I feel as though I deserved to get ejected from the game, but not from the next ones. I know better then this, and it was a turning point in my sports career. Although you may not agree with a call it is better to not explode. Many times when you are passionate about something you should fight for it, but if you end up in my situation similar to mine think before you act because you may be putting your morals on the line.

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This week’s essay

Following her grandmother’s death, Priya Chandrasekaran wondered what to do with the colorful silk saris she inherited. In deciding to make a quilt from them, Chandrasekaran believes she found a way to both honor her grandmother and create something new. Click here to read her essay.